The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Bruins’ Marchand looking for fresh start going forward
BOSTON — Bruins forward Brad Marchand has used the past few days since his team was eliminated in the second round in five games by the Tampa Bay Lightning to reflect on his role in the loss.
Marchand drew national attention and a reprimand from the NHL after he was caught licking the face of Lightning forward Ryan Callahan during a confrontation in the Lightning’s 4-3 overtime Game 4 win that pushed the Bruins to the brink of elimination.
For Marchand, who scored 34 goals during the regular season and represented the Bruins at the All-Star Game, the licking incident added to his list of infractions. He has been suspended by the NHL six times and fined three.
Now Marchand is thinking about cleaning up his act.
“After having a couple days kind of looking back on the year and seeing what’s happened the last few days I guess, with all the media and everything, I think the biggest thing for me now is to really take a pretty hard look in the mirror and realize some of the things that I’m doing have much bigger consequences,” Marchand said during the Bruins’ breakup day at the Warrior Ice Arena on Wednesday. “I think I’ve gotten my game into a pretty decent spot, but I got some character things that clearly need some fixing.”
The Bruins may not have to change much despite coming up short in their quest for their first Stanley Cup since 2011. They won 50 games for the 10th time in franchise history and finished second in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Tampa Bay.
But to a man they were confident that there are better things ahead for the Bruins, who have seven unrestricted free agents among the 26 players that finished the season on their roster.
“It was a big learning experience for the young guys that came in,” Marchand said. “So, hopefully, we can all bring the benefits from this season into next year and be even better.”